Girls, Aspergers, and ... horses?

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I was never into horses. I was more into trains when I was aged 4-7. Then I was into jungles (and The Jungle Book) when I was 7-9. And I was into Sonic the Hedgehog and other Sega games when I was 8-12. Then after that it was men.

But when I was a child under 13, I never had obsessions. They were just general interests. What I am into now is what I would call obsessions!

Yes from when I was very little. Drew them, thought about them constantly, watched old westerns just to look at the horses. Whenever going somewhere by car, watched out the window for a glimpse of a horse (countryside it in a city). Would’ve given my right arm for a horse .. finally got one when I was 10.

Wasn’t interested in dolls. Rather play with cats. Only found out now at 53 I’m Aspie. But so much is a revelation now .. astounding how everything makes sense now

yes, from age 4 to present, 50 years of keeping, raising, training, all sorts of horses, riding instructor, boarding stable , barn rat, rescuing abused horses in between, I was so lucky!
I was never rich but I was motivated to find ways to be with horses all my life.
Now we live in town my primary interest is autism in older adults , I was diagnosed as autistic at age 68 and I will be 72 later this year.

I was the only girl in my class NOT obsessed with horses when I was a kid.

When I was young a lot of my friends were girls who were obsessed with horses.

I was obsessed with horses. My best friend had horses and we went riding often.

I knew an autistic man who was obsessed with the idea of girls and horses but that's another story.

I had horses and a Shetland on my grandfather's property when I was young.
I did equine trauma therapy as an adult and I still ride occasionally.

As a lifetime horse lover and enthusiast, maybe some of my experience may be interesting. Many girls of all stripes and types enjoy interacting with horses so I don't think autism "causes" horse obsession. On the other hand many facets of horse-friendly environments may match our ND needs. For instance,

1. Horses are 'cuddly'. The gentle ones are large, warm, strong, enjoy predictable strong touch. Grooming a horse (and they need a lot of this) requires lots of slow, repetitive, routine motion. And, if you like the smell of horses, horse odor can be really meditative and calming.

2. As prey animals, horses do better in a quiet, predictable environments. They usually don't like loud noises, things that fly and flap around, vibrations, unfamiliar places, new foods. They have meltdowns, need time to chill out, and never try to explain what's going on to you. They can be kindred spirits, cohabiting autistic-comfortable places.

3. Horses are honest, intuitive, patient, and don't ask questions or require that you speak to them. After school it was such a relief to escape to the stable, groom, saddle and bridle my horse, and go for a long solitary ride through the woods on his back. He didn't care if I sang, made funny noises (not too loud), talked to the squirrels, or was just silent. We shared a lot of safe-unsafe attitudes but no rules about right and wrong or judgements about disability, being odd or acting crazy. With a horse you are who and what you are.

Most of my life I was lucky enough to be able to be near live, friendly horses, to own them, ride and show them. But the idea of horses also captivated me. I read about them, drew them, collected horse figurines, and pretended to be them throughout my childhood. I've read about non-verbal autistic children being able to communicate with other humans through an intermediate object like a toy or a computer. Perhaps horses serve that purpose for some ND kids. A shared love of horses gave me a point of connection to people I otherwise felt no commonality with. The criticism I got from my riding instructor would have sent me away in tears had I not been able to share the responsibility for failure with my horse. Kids who wouldn't speak to me in the classroom would happily include me on the playground if I was pretending to be a horse.

I'll bet people with other obsessions and hobbies have similar experiences. Maybe it's motorcycles or fly tying that creates a meeting ground and lets those who are usually divided by their differences find a shared space to peacefully co-exist together for a while...

I was the only girl in my class NOT into horses.

In fact I think horses is a common obsession among NT female children.

I played with MLPs when I was little, but I wasn't obsessed with horses. I am moreso now, though. Lol. Hoping to start volunteering with an equine therapy place soon.

I played with MLPs too. I had a set of them, even though I wasn't into horses but I still would play with any toy that was given to me. My grandparents had bought me a set for my 8th or 9th Christmas, and I pretended they were students in a class getting into arguments. I often made my toys do that.

I don't have interests in any animals.
Including humans.

Like I understand that it can be a preference over interacting and having to do with humans... Or that being able to read and feel with animals better than humans to a point it's way more fulfilling emotionally and socially.


At most, I like cats and... That's it.
But never been a theme or a huge preference for me, nor anything significant -- save for a very few childhood memories along with that.

But horses?
... Never have I ever touched, interacted, cared for let alone ridden, a horse. At most, I get like 5 feet closest to them in observation and I was forbidden to go closer

Games and shows?
Nadda. I rarely ever played nor watchrd anything animal related, let alone horses specifically.
Not a fan of everything -- literally.

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I like horses
I grew up around them because we lived near a big farm that housed them and everyone either had a horse or they worked on the farm so they could ride them

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